Modern American history suggests that government divided between the two parties is the best of all worlds.

Regulatory drag can be reduced only as part of a reform that credibly promises to ease burdens and protect the public. Such reform is possible, but it needs to start by changing how Congress approaches regulation: lawmakers must assume responsibility for rule-making.

Conventional wisdom holds that the Navy and Air Force escaped the budget drill mostly intact while the Army endured the bulk of cuts. But the truth is that all of the services are shrinking and aging under the Obama budget.

Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are challenged with unrealities in handling the country's toughest economic truths.

Republicans may find it hard to strike a balance that keeps its ardent social conservatives inside the tent without losing the adherence or enthusiasm of a large group of others.

Americans are wary of too much regulation and believe that government intervention should protect the free-enterprise system.

Policymakers can arrest the slow death of the US economy by cutting federal spending, lowering tax rates, stabilizing the debt-to-GDP ratio, and avoiding deflation.

As a result of the high loan limits and the suppression of private securitization through the obstacles and disincentives listed below, approximately 90% of all originations and 99% of all securitizations are now government guaranteed. This is an ongoing liability for the taxpayers and an unhealthy fiscal position for the United States.